Improved book-holder



STATES ATENT PINCE# D. F. DIMON AND G. H. C'ARSVELL, OF FISHKLL LANDING, NEW YORK.

IMPROVED BOOK-HOLDER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,575, dated July 19, 1864.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Beit known that we, D. F. DiMoN'and G. H. CARSWELL, both of Fishkill Landing, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Book-Holder; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents a perspective view of our invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same.

Similar letters ot' 'reference in both figures indicate corresponding parts.

This invention consists in the arrangement of a crank-shaft which has its bearings in the upper ends ofthe uprights of a frame or stand suitable to support books of different size, and which is provided with two spring-arms in combination with a support or prop hinged to the crank of the crankshaft in such a manner that when a book is placed on the stand held in an inclined position by the prop the weight of the book, acting on the crankshaft, holds the spring-arms down and. the leaves are effectually prevented from turning over spontaneously.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will proceed to de scribe it.

A represents a frame or stand, made of wood or any other suitable material, and consisting ot' two uprights, a, which are united near their bottom ends by a transverse strip, b, sufficiently broad to supporta book of any ordinary size. The upper ends ot' the uprights a form the bearings for the crank-shaft B, and from this shaft two arms, C, extend, as clearly shown in Fig. l ot' the drawings. Each of these arms is bent at right angles, and its outer end forms a spring intended to bear down upon the leaves of a book and to prevent them from turning.

D is the prop which holds the stand A in an inclined position, and which connects with one or both of the-uprights a by a hook, c, which prevents it from slipping, in the same manner as the prop of an ordinary step-ladder. The upper end of this'prop is hinged to the crank d, which is situated about in the middle of the crank-shaft B. This crank is turned in such relation to the spring-,arms G that when the stand is placed in an inclined position, as shown in Fig. 2, and a bookis put on it, the weight ot' the book has a tendency to throw the arms in and to hold the leaves down.

By referring to Fig. 2 it will be readily understood that the weight of the book has a tendency to throw the upper ends of the uprights in the direction of the arrow marked near them, and consequently the crank will have a tendency to rotate in the direction ot' the arrow marked near it, and the outer ends of the spring-arms will be thrown down toward the uprights. By this arrangement our book holder can be used equally well for thick or thin books, and the correcty action ot' the saine does not depend upon the elasticity ofthe spring-arms, but entirely upon the direct action ofthe gravity ofthe book itself on vsaid spring-arins.

For new books, or whenever the weight of the book should not be sufficient to hold the leaves down, the spring-arms may be locked by means oi' one or two hooks, e. v

This book-holder can be made very cheap, all the metal parts being bent out of wire, and the crank shaft and arms can be easily made out of one and the same piece ot' wire, which is bent in the desired shape, as will be seen by referring to Fig. l of the drawings.

It will be of particular advantage in schools to enable children to have their books in an upright position before their eyes, and to avoid the bad and unhealthy practice of pressing their chests against the edge of the desk and of stooping down over the book when they desire to read or study.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The arrangement of thl crank-shaft B, provided with spring-arms C, in combination with the stand A and prop D, constructed and operating substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

D. F. DIMON. G. H. GARSWELL.

' Vitnesscs:

H. H. HUsrrs, J oHN H. GARRIsoN. 

